In the last few weeks, many breweries around San Diego have been brewing up their fresh hop releases. Mike Hess Brewing’s foray into the harvest scene, Forty Acre IPA, kicked things up a notch by using an experimental hop variety code named X-331.

Born Yesterday Pale Ale’s fruity tropical hop aroma was both matched, and surpassed, when it came down to its amazing wet hop flavor. With a slight malt profile, Lagunitas put the freshest of hops on center stage for all to enjoy.

I’ll admit it — I have always been a Sierra Nevada fanboy, and I was as caught up in the pre-release hype over this IPA as anybody. But after a few drinks of Hop Hunter IPA, the blinders I was wearing got knocked right off my face, and I came to a few realizations about this beer.